Goodbye Alex

Alex came to visit before he went to basic training and to see his dad get baptized. What was supposed to be only a week turned into three months after he hurt himself snowboarding. Perhaps it was Heavenly Fathers way of allow broken things to be mended before it is all lost. More than anything it allowed a father to be able to send his son off they way he had always hoped. Savannah and Brittlynn also had a chance to have their brother in their life again. It is hard knowing there is such a gap between the older kids and the younger ones that they won't grow up sharing that many memories of each other. Its also crazy to think we are old enough to have children on their own ready to take on the world. Both Alex and Emily have chosen to do difficult things. Both opportunities will allow them to mature faster than most at their age. We are excited that we were able to spend the time having Alex back in our house. I know it wasn't his choice to be here for so long. I am just glad it turned into a positive experience for our family and perhaps someday he will look back on the time he had in Idaho with our family as positive also. Eric was able to go golfing one more time before he left. We said goodbye to Alex on Monday night when he stayed in a hotel before he left for the airport. It might be awhile before we are all together as a family. The next day to Eric's surprise and excitement Alex called to have us meet him at the airport. When Eric went to basic training he never called his mom to let him know when he was leaving until it was to late. There was a little mix up at the airport so his flight was delayed for 3 hours so we were able to spend more time with him. To our surprise he told us how much he missed us already. A year ago if you told me Alex would miss his family I wouldn't believe it...but at this moment he did.
He is going to join the Air Force. Carry on a tradition of serving his country in the military. He is determined to succeed at this choice in his life. I know he wants it bad enough nothing will stop him.